وَمَا مَنَعَ ٱلنَّاسَ أَن يُؤْمِنُوٓا۟ إِذْ جَآءَهُمُ ٱلْهُدَىٰ وَيَسْتَغْفِرُوا۟ رَبَّهُمْ إِلَّآ أَن تَأْتِيَهُمْ سُنَّةُ ٱلْأَوَّلِينَ … وَيُجَٰدِلُ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ بِٱلْبَٰطِلِ لِيُدْحِضُوا۟ بِهِ ٱلْحَقَّ
"What kept people from believing when guidance came to them, and from asking forgiveness of their Lord, is only their waiting for the way of those before them to come upon them too… Those who disbelieve dispute with falsehood, to make the truth slip by means of it."
This expression had occurred word for word in Ghāfir (al-Muʾmin) at 40/5 and was treated there: the د-ح-ض root — the slipping of the foot, slippery ground; and it was recorded there: the aim is not to refute the truth but to move it out of its place. I do not repeat it here.
And in al-Kahf at 18/54 (wa kāna'l-insānu akthara shayʾin jadalā) dispute was named as the most marked characteristic of man. Five verses later the same root returns as dispute by means of falsehood. This is a pattern that can be verified within the sūra.
وَمَنْ أَظْلَمُ مِمَّن ذُكِّرَ بِـَٔايَٰتِ رَبِّهِۦ فَأَعْرَضَ عَنْهَا وَنَسِىَ مَا قَدَّمَتْ يَدَاهُ (57)
| Verse | What is forgotten |
|---|---|
| 24 | Idhā nasīt — saying "if God wills" (in the context of a command) |
| 61, 63 | Nasiyā ḥūtahumā — the fish (it becomes the sign) |
| 57 | Wa nasiya mā qaddamat yadāh — what he himself did |
Three occurrences, three separate planes. And the third is worth recording: what is forgotten is what a person's own hand sent on ahead.
وَرَبُّكَ ٱلْغَفُورُ ذُو ٱلرَّحْمَةِ لَوْ يُؤَاخِذُهُم بِمَا كَسَبُوا۟ لَعَجَّلَ لَهُمُ ٱلْعَذَابَ بَل لَّهُم مَّوْعِدٌ لَّن يَجِدُوا۟ مِن دُونِهِۦ مَوْئِلًا (58)
This sentence has the same structure as Fāṭir 35/45 (wa law yuʾākhidhu'llāhu'n-nāsa bimā kasabū mā taraka ʿalā ẓahrihā min dābba) and was treated there. I rely on that treatment.
The difference here must be recorded: in Fāṭir the scope was all living creatures; in al-Kahf lahum mawʿid — an appointed time is reported.
مَوْئِل — root و-أ-ل: to take refuge, to flee and be protected. The word occurs only here in the Qurʾān.